Democrats Still Looking for That Health Bounce

My latest Capital Journal column looks at the lack of a political bounce for Democrats so far on health care:

Four weeks to the day after President Barack Obama signed a historic health overhaul into law, Democrats haven’t enjoyed much of a political bounce as a result.

The question is: Does that really matter yet?

When the president sat in a crowded White House East Room to sign the health-care act of 2010, friends and foes alike agreed that something momentous was happening. They also agreed that the debate wasn’t over.

Simply putting the law into effect will take years. Meanwhile, Republicans promptly began talking about trying to repeal it—an idea more quixotic than realistic, but one that has kept the pot simmering.

For their part, Democrats were eager to see at least some political dividends. They hoped their party’s base would be energized by the accomplishment. More than that, they calculated that, with the ugliness of the immediate argument ending, the health bill would look better to a wide swath of voters.

So far, though, it’s hard to find that in the public reaction. A series of polls taken in the past two weeks have Mr. Obama’s job approval at an average of 48.3%, about one percentage point higher than when he signed the bill, according to an aggregation by Realclearpolitics.com.